2.4 The transformation of a natural resource: from agriculture to agribusiness

2.5 Conflicts over mineral resources

2.6 Development and tribal peoples: resistance to displacement

2.7 Natural resource abuses: a time for change

References

2.7 Natural resource abuses: a time for change

The extraction, transformation, and utilization of natural
resources have resulted in great damage to the environment and spawned conflicts
at various levels between labour and capital, corporations and tribal
communities, and governments of the developed and the developing worlds. The
role of the state as the primary agent for the supervision and disposition of
natural resources is a crucial factor in the analysis of these conflicts.
Related to this is the rise of militarization, especially in areas where the
victims of development have begun to fight back and assert their rights.

The depletion of forest and, to a certain extent, mineral
resources has already reached crisis proportions in South-East Asia. The
degradation of the ecosystem only emphasizes the critical nature of the problem.
The displacement of local communities, including tribal peoples from their homes
and traditional sources of livelihood without adequate alternatives being
offered is a violation of human rights. While corporations reap large profits
from their operations, the workers and their families subsist below the poverty
line and endure poor living conditions. Labour conflicts are immediately
traceable to the exploited condition of the workers in the forest and mineral
industries. In agriculture, which is a transformation of a land based resource,
peasant land rights are constantly being violated by the expansion of
agribusiness concerns as land reform programmes are half-heartedly implemented,
if at all. Food crops are being replaced by export crops, and malnutrition
remains a major problem.

Industrialized countries are heavily dependent on raw
material producing countries for mineral and forest products, but they also
control international trade and dictate the prices as well as the traffic in
such goods. Capital and technology are also monopolized by the First World.
These countries are generally indifferent to the development of the processing
capabilities of the primary-product producing countries, and in cases in which
transfer of technology is undertaken, it has been confined to the less desirable
types such as heavy-polluting or energy-consuming ones.

There is obviously a need to change existing priorities for
development in the ASEAN countries. A stronger position must be taken against
the monopolistic control being exercised by the developed countries over local
resources. Considering that ASEAN countries possess sizeable forest and mineral
reserves, the possibilities for these states to come together and demand a
revision of trade and investment patterns are bright and attainable. Presenting
a unified position, ASEAN countries can enter into negotiations with raw
material-importing countries and arrive at mutual agreements. The industrial
countries must be made to realize that unless they agree to negotiate for
change, their traditional sources of primary products may be lost or unilateral
restructuring may have to be undertaken.

Internal conflicts are a different matter, however. The
governments of the ASEAN states range from mildly to overtly authoritarian. In
many cases, internal sources of tension such as labour conflicts and peasant
unrest have been dealt with by state repression. In this way, governments lose
their credibility with the population and popular sympathy shifts to opposition
groups, including those promoting radical alternatives. Bureaucratic anomalies,
financial scandals, widespread corruption, and foreign biased economic
programmes all serve to erode the government's position. The state becomes
identified with the interests of logging and mining companies, usurious
international funding agencies, and foreign agents. It is not surprising that
official policies are perceived to have benefited only these interests while
causing great harm to the peasantry, workers, and tribal
communities.